Brainerd’s High family tree branches out

The words still roll so easily off Brainerd basketball coach Robert High’s tongue.

“Down, Tshombe! Down!”

And although it’s been 20 years since Coach High yelled those words at his nephew, they still resonate in the former Brainerd, University of Miami and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga player’s mind, even though when the coach yells them now, they’re meant for the nephew’s son, a senior starter for Brainerd.

One of Tshombe Jr.’s teammates is fellow senior Jeulian High, whose dad Sam and Tshombe Sr. were first cousins and teammates on the Panthers’ 1992 state championship team.

“He’ll yell that at me, then say, ‘You’re just like yo’ daddy,’” the younger Tshombe said.

His dad said the saying came as a result of his inability to cover the back side of the 1-3-1 zone in high school. Coach High would continually have to yell to remind him where to be.

The Panthers are 12-5 going into tonight’s game against rival Howard, and part of that comes from the play of the cousins. The coach said the two have become leaders, led by captain Jeulian.

“They both bring skills to the court,” Coach High said. “Jeulian has been to practice every day that we could practice over the past two seasons, and Tshombe was here since last season. Their improvement has been an impressive thing to see.”

Coach High didn’t plan to coach this team. In fact, a few years ago he had no intentions at all of coaching in the 2011-12 season, but he has reconsidered retirement on multiple occasions. And now he’s coached five nephews and great-nephews, with Tyran playing for Brainerd in the late 1990s.

“I definitely didn’t plan on it this way,” he said. “I’ve had every intention of not being here once they got here, but I keep on changing my mind on retirement.

“The good thing is that when it comes to basketball, they’re no different than any other member of this team. When we’re in that gym, they refer to me as ‘Coach’ and they’re a Brainerd basketball player.”

Although the older Tshombe, who once jumped over five players in a high school dunk contest, is by far the better leaper, he’s reluctantly willing to admit that his son is a better shooter.

“He also understands the game better than I did,” Tshombe Sr. said. “When I played, people saw me and thought that I had knowledge of the game. He has that knowledge and does a good job of putting it all to play.”

Tshombe Jr., who has a younger brother by the same name who’s a sophomore at Ooltewah, said his father does a good job of encouraging him — when he’s not sneaking a shot in about his storied past.

“We’ll be going down the road and he’ll see Miami tags, and he’ll yell, ‘That’s the U! That’s those ’Canes!’” the son said. “He does have some pictures and I’d like to be like that someday. He’s always encouraging me — talking about how to be a leader and how to win, about what it’ll take to get to state, get to college and how to be successful in life.”

The first time the Panthers faced Howard this season, the Hustlin’ Tigers won 59-49. Tshombe spent most of the game in foul trouble before ultimately fouling out. Since then, Coach High has been shuffling the lineup in an attempt to not get any player comfortable in the starting five.

“There have been some ups and downs this year,” Tshombe Jr. said. “It hasn’t been a satisfying season yet, but I know I can do better to help my team and my teammates win. The Howard-Brainerd game is just another game, but it’s a rivalry game. There’s going to be a lot better competition and there are going to be a lot of people watching.”

Said the older Tshombe: “I’ve tried to teach him to block out all the hoopla, the fans and what others are saying. They [fans] play large roles in games, but as a player you have to block all that stuff out and get things done on the court.”